Let's talk about English Pronunciation

[JoAnn]

Chatterbug’s function to listen to new words in your ‘flashcards’ is a great way to learn the correct pronunciation of new vocabulary.

Below are some alternatives to remembering a word’s pronunciation

Grouping words that have a similar spelling for example: function, transition, translation all have a -tion ending. This way maybe you know one of the words already, like function, and have an indication how the rest of the words may sound. This also applies to vowels like in the words: met, bed, wed. All of these words have a short ‘e’ vowel pronunciation, therefore, when seeing words with one ‘e’ you will remember it is pronounced short instead of a long ‘ee’ as in the word meet.

Pay attention to how many syllables a word has. Splitting a word into chunks can make it easier to approach.
Let’s take the word helmet, it has two syllables hel-met. hel- sounds like the word hell and met sounds and is spelled exactly like the word met. Did this help to recognize the pronunciation of helmet?

Repeat, repeat, repeat! Practice makes perfect! Don’t forget to be attentive to the formulation of the word in your mouth. After some practice you won’t need to hear it anymore, your muscles will remember the right movements (muscle memory)!

There are other techniques to make sure you remember how a word is pronounced without always having to go back and listen to it’s sound. How do you generally approach remembering the pronunciation of new words?

[Maddy11]

I have another pronunciation tip to add here! (@Ellimaus we talked about this in one of our lessons.)

I often hear English students make mistakes with the pronunciation of the letter ‘g’.

The general rule is: if the letter after ‘g’ is ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘y’, the pronunciation is a ‘soft g’ as in ‘fringe’. Examples: general, giant, gymnastics, large, energy and change.

Any other letter that follows requires a ‘hard’ pronunciation of ‘g’.
Examples: progress, golf, pig, great, grasp and gum.

Take note of these examples has two 'g’s and uses both rules: language, garage, and gigantic.

Tip: if a word derives from German, it’s usually a hard ‘g’, (e.g. Kindergarten) and if it is a Latin or French derivative, it’s a soft ‘g’ (e.g. giraffe).

Unfortunately, as usual, there are some exceptions… like the very common English words get and give. Can you think of any others?

Hint:

[JoAnn]

@rynmnfrd posted a funny post on how to pronounce the C’s in the Pacific Ocean. Just goes to show how important and fun learning new vocabulary can be!